Remnant Rangers
by hickoryrOadkill
Summary: They were Recruits when they started the mission, in the end, they came out as True Desert Rangers. Now they find themselves fighting a new Enemy in the shadows of a world unknown to them for the future, Team Echo will face new challenges in a world full of Remnants but in true Ranger style, they will try to adapt, otherwise, they will become the Cries of a Dead World themselves.


**I do not own Wasteland 2 or RWBY as each is owned by inXile entertainment and Rooster Teeth respectively.**

 **Also, there is little to no actual lore other than the key aspects of the First Wasteland game and the Sequel, which won't be a bad thing. This is mainly a Team Echo in Remnant story.**

 **Character Stats will be posted in the next chapter as this is just a Prologue Chapter (SPOILERS for Wasteland 2 Ahead.)**

* * *

 **Ranger Citadel, Arizona Wastelands, 2102**

Ranger Citadel, home to the Desert Rangers and one of the settlements in the western region of the Arizona Wasteland surrounded by tall stone walls and guarded by one of the most well-armed groups. It was here the peacekeepers of Arizona came to rest, restock, and get new orders from command before leaving to uphold the law. It also had one of the most active radio transmitters around so they could receive requests for help and send out the info to any teams near where the claim was broadcasted from.

The Citadel initially was the home to a group called the Guardians of the Old Order, a Xenophobic cult who devoted themselves to obtaining and preserving pre-war technology. Their reputation was that they would shoot first, shoot second later to any other group who came within a specific range of the Citadel or their salvage teams, their obsession also led them to team up with a dangerous Artificial Intelligence program called the Base Cochise AI. In the end a Ranger team, led by the now General Vargas deem the group too hazardous on account of their behavior and their collaboration with Cochise, who had plans to purge the wasteland with killer robots and in the end, the Guardians and Cochise were defeated.

Or so the Rangers thought.

It turned out two Guardians survived, specially modified and created to be shells for Cochise if the occasion arose. These two, Dugan and Matthias, fled to Los Angeles and there they slowly began the Guardians under a new name, the Children of the Citadel. For fifteen years, curious residents came to the group and joined the Children, those who proved themselves became the evolved. Cyborgs powered by an atomic heart and were augmented with multiple performance-enhancing implants, those genuinely devoted to Matthias became exalted. These Exalted would have their brain placed in an entirely synthetic body and could truly experience Matthias's future of a world without the threat of disease, aging, and pain.

Dugan, however, had his brain placed in a heavily augmented robotic body similar to that of his Worker bots, who put fear in the populace as he threatened to do what Cochise was going to do, which was to purge the wasteland of all life. This brought Matthias followers since he was the most equipped to fight the robots, mainly since they had energy weapons that could superheat the armor and melt their insides. The ruse proved to be a success as many people came to Matthias for protection and their combined forces were growing in time for fifteen years.

Then, in the current year of 2102, they placed their plan into action.

Three Synths entered Arizona, waiting until Matthias made himself known to the Rangers by sending a radio signal powerful enough to reach Ranger Citadel. Scaring old Vargas sufficiently to send two Rangers, Hell Razor, and Ace, to investigate, they were both killed, Razor in the camp of the Rail Nomad Indians while Ace was murdered at the nearest Radio tower to Ranger Citadel. With those two out of the way, their next stop was to a town called Damonta, home to the only graveyard of pre-war robots. The robots they planned to activate and kill most of the inhabitants while unwillingly converting the remaining settlers into evolved.

That was the plan, but another group got involved.

You see while Hell Razor's death couldn't be confirmed by the Desert Rangers, Ace's death was confirmed, and his body was laid to rest in the Citadel's cemetery, Vargas couldn't let the killer of not only a ranger but a teammate, escape justice. The only problem he had was that most of his Rangers teams were busy dealing with other issues such as Range Wars and re-establishing contact with Las Vegas, which was had been cut off by a radiation wall and the only available team he had was Team Echo, who had only recently completed their training. Vargas was naturally afraid for Echo, Ace joined Vargas and his team back in 2087, he even was with them when they defeated Cochise, and he stayed with the Rangers for fifteen years, and something was dangerous enough to rip him to shreds.

Nonetheless, Vargas sent Echo to investigate the location. They also had a let a Veteran Ranger and teammate to both Vargas and Ace join them named Angela Deth, who was also the Latter's lover. Once at the radio tower, they saw that Ace didn't die with a whimper but a roar, he had severed the leg of the synth, and it subsequently either bled out or was killed by the mutant toad that previously inhabited the cave in which the Rangers found its body. Ace's killer was brought to justice and his mission given to Echo to continue. To install specialized repeater units to trace where the signal originated and they did so over the span of nearly a month and in the process they brought peace, made mistakes, and even picked up some members to join them. They also stopped the last Synth, Tinker, in Damonta and brought its mission to ruin while simultaneously completing their own.

But the story wasn't over, far from it for Team Echo.

With the Repeater units installed, they finally made progress in locating Matthias and where the Synths originated from, Vargas then organized a strike team, consisting of the best field Rangers they had, including Angela. This group was sent to Los Angeles on one of the several Helicopters the Rangers had while Echo was still turning the robots in Damonta to scrap metal.

Either misfortune or Matthias's planning resulted in a missile that brought down their chopper and Echo had no choice but to continue the mission against the threat once again. They flew to LA with Lieutenant Woodson, the Rangers lead Radio Technician, and with his help they established the Desert Rangers in Los Angeles, helping the people and developing peace while gathering Cat Litter and Zeolite to improve their radiation suits and reach Matthias's New Citadel and cut the head off the snake.

But they were too late, Matthias had already left to Arizona, leaving Dugan to deal with Team Echo before joining his fellow Guardian in completing their mission.

To revive Cochise, who had transferred a copy of himself into a computer deep below Ranger Citadel.

Team Echo, however, were prepared, their skills significantly improving alongside their armor and weapons and truth be told, Dugan had them on the ropes for a bit until four to five Fifty Caliber sniper rounds had put him down for a good while the others dealt with Worker bots and several of the Evolved.

With Dugan out of the way, they stole his helicopter and made it to Arizona in time to join Vargas, and the Rangers take back their home. Among the many willing troops to help assault the compound were people from the settlements, they had helped during the investigation, ready to help repay the debt they had to Echo for what they did. Together, Team Echo, General Vargas, and these people willing to help kick the Synth's ass and they won a somewhat Pyrrhic victory.

Cochise's final endgame as it turned out to be with the destruction of its original base, was to utilize the Citadel's Radio tower to broadcast a signal capable infecting every robot, Synth, and receivers of advanced prosthetic limbs from a former Guardian named . Vargas, however, had a plan ready if the Citadel was to fall, which was to jury-rig an M-28 Davy Crockett Recoilless gun and its M388 Nuclear Projectile into a remotely detonated bomb, destroying the Citadel and everything in it. The Citadel had already fallen before the remote detonation system could be completed. This meant someone had to stay behind and activate the Nuke, that responsibility fell to the Topekan Leader Kekkabah, who had Team Echo to thank for establishing peace with their former allies, the Atchison and their leader Casey Jones, who had fallen in the final clash with Matthias and his synths.

Now we come to the present, as Team Echo, General Vargas, and the head of the Ranger's R and D division, Captain Ethil Mercaptain, looked on at the aftermath of the nuclear detonation inside their former home from a cliff.

* * *

"It's a shame we had to lose the Citadel." Spoke the young teenage girl known as Elena Lockchild, the Ranger's Technology specialist. Her appearance was that of a 16-year-old Brunette Girl wearing a pair of military cargo pants, and old Gila Boots with the chest plate of a spectrum assault vest peeking out from under her old leather trench coat, and a G41 Assault Rifle slung over her shoulder with the barrel pointing towards the ground.

"Agreed Elena, but it was for a good reason, to make sure that damned machine couldn't try to wipe all of humanity out." Said Echo's leader, Arescot, an African American man in his late thirties dressed in a suit of Pseudo-Chitin Armor with a Pre War Helmet on his head, his Proton Axe in a loop on his belt while his Minigun was carried in his left hand by the front handle.

"That thing got what it deserved if you asked me." Spoke the rough, scarred voice of Wesley Garrick, the Team's primary Sniper. His attire is that of a leather coat over his spectrum assault vest and a pair of old work jeans, in his hands being the sniper rifle he had taken from an Evolved back in Los Angeles, The Dragoon was its name as this title was carved onto the shell of the gun.

Their fourth Member, Martineus, didn't have anything to say as she was busy patching a gunshot wound in Vargas' arm. She was in her late twenties and dressed in a tan sweatshirt and black skirt, and black pants combo. An RPG and AR-45 Submachine gun slung over her right shoulder, and her backpack of supplies was on the ground. Her role in Echo was as both a field medic and demolition expert with some proficient skill with a submachine gun to protect herself.

"Almost there, done." She said as she tied a bandage around his arm to cover the wound. Vargas flexed his arm a bit.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Vargas thanked the Medic, he grabbed his cane from its nearby resting place and stood on his feet and slowly limped to join the rest of Echo at the cliff with Martineus.

There they looked on at the smoke coming from the Citadel, wondering of what will the Ranger's future bring. Echo's three Companions had already left, Vulture's Cry said she was taking her Radiation suit and rejoining her people, even putting in a good word to them of the Rangers. Scotchmo left for Rail Nomad to rejoin his fellow Hobos. And Pistol Pete stayed behind in Los Angeles only because it was his home.

While her Five Passengers were looking on at the remains of their home, Captain Mercaptain was speaking on the radio, rallying all Rangers to regroup at the Radio Tower or at least trying to get the message out since they had just lost their main tower and with it, most of their range.

"So, what is the plan now General?" Arescot asked.

"Now. now we just rebuild, and hope this won't be too bad of a major setback." He answered, his grip tightening on his cane.

And that was all they could do, hope.

* * *

 **One Week Later, New Ranger Citadel**

Rebuilding at the Radio Tower was difficult but not impossible, with whatever scrap they could get being traded for tools and building materials to build some proper facilities slowly. Including a Barracks, Medical bay, even Archives to store what maps and documents they could get their hands on. The Desert Rangers were still trying there best to recover from the surprise attack. But that didn't stop them from performing their duties to the people first and foremost and with the truce brokered between Commander Danforth of the Red Skorpion Militia, the more ethically ambiguous former rivals to the Desert Rangers. Also proved to be fruitful as their new Allies agreed to share news of any distress calls they received to the Tower and helped Ranger squads keep the peace. One problem that did arise was that a number of the Skorpions were Raiders who merely joined Danforth for easy Scrap and the thrill of combat. Rangers, on the other hand, earned scrap the old-fashioned way. By salvaging and selling anything for new gear and Ammo

The coming times were going to be hard to overcome with the loss of Ag Center, the most abundant farm and source for all the seeds for every farm in Arizona. The destruction of the Hydroponic farm and research lab was just another way to throw the Desert Rangers off the Synths trail no doubt, mainly since the Rangers found the same type of pods that mutated all of the workers and animals in a beached tanker ship serving as a research lab over in California.

Nonetheless, it was creating a food shortage problem, and now without the stockpiled rations of the Citadel, even the Rangers were affected. The one good thing, however, was that HighPool, Arizona's largest stockpiler of water. Was still standing tall and helping the Denizens of the waste through this by giving water to the farms that needed it. Even Vulture's Cry returned once several days ago with a backpack full of seeds from her Village to help, and two patrols were still out delivering the seeds.

Echo was a godsend to Vargas, now if only they could help run the Rangers with him.

Vargas sat at a desk, overlooking reports and complaints given to him from the Ranger patrols with a headache from doing this for the past several hours. Maintaining the peace was difficult without the radio at the Citadel, meaning their range was severely lacking and progress on improving the current one they had was slow, even with the efforts of Mercaptain and Elena. Sure the Skorpions helped out with their tower but not even theirs could reach the farthest corners of the wastes. The Rail Nomads did their best to relay messages back to the Rangers along the way with the help of Scotchmo and his group of Hobos, but it still wasn't enough, and many small farms and settlements were threatening to no longer honor the many agreements the Rangers made over their one hundred years of service.

Vargas sighed when he felt something touch his shoulder. He looked up and saw Sergeant Smitts, his current Radio Officer since Woodson was still in Los Angeles handling the Rangers Branch there. Smits himself looked like an overweight Biker in his forties with a goatee and was balding but made up for it with a Bandana.

"Sir, there is something you want to hear." Smitts relayed to the General.

Vargas breathed another sigh, knowing the paperwork could wait for another time as he got up and followed the Radio Officer to his setup, which was built onto the tower itself.

"Mayday, Mayday, this is the town of Powdersmith, and we are in need of serious help. Mutant Wolves and Bears have besieged the town and are killing us. Please, we only have Town Hall left, and our ammunition is running low so help us, PLEASE." The voice of a woman pleaded over the Radio Reciever.

Vargas sighed yet again, another sighting of a pack of mutant wolves and bears. These things have already cost them one ranger team and the Red Skorpions two of their teams along with the three settlements the crews were sent to assist. Some of the more religious folk left in Arizona claimed it was the work of the devil, sending them to eradicate Humanity. Scotchmo claimed one attacked him but was made into ground dog meat by his Shotgun, and it seemed to evaporate as if becoming one with the air but Vargas dismissed the last part on account of the source's love for snake squeezins.

"When did you get this Smitts?"

"Just now Sir," Smitts replied as the Desert Ranger General readjust his posture as he knew the perfect team to send.

"Get Echo here, NOW." He Ordered Smitts, who wasted no time in using the P.A System, which was one of the speakers on the tower wired to a second microphone.

"Team Echo, report to the Tower immediately. Team Echo, report to the tower immediately."

* * *

 **Meanwhile, in an Unknown land**

Another dreary day on lookout Duty for the town of Shion, she stood on the wall and watched for anything to come, but alas, it was hopeless as it was a slow day with no Grimm sightings so far. Her grip on her rifle loosened as she pulled out a canteen to drink from, spending too long in deserts left an excellent reminder to stay hydrated no matter what.

"Captain."

A voice called out from above, her body swiveling to look at the Guard Tower, she lowered the canteen from her mouth and returned it to her belt.

"What is it, Tristan?" She asked her colleague.

"Is your Scroll on Captain?" He called out. The Captain mentally cursed to herself as she probably had set to silent mode.

"Why do you ask?" She replied with her own question.

"The Mayor has been trying to contact you. He says it's really important."

 _'Shit, I almost forgot he wanted to discuss improving security.'_ She remembered as she slung her rifle over her shoulder and thanked Tristan for reminding her before walking off to the Mayor's Office.

Angela Deth was a busy woman keeping watch over Shion, but she could handle it, she was a former Desert Ranger after all.

* * *

 **And that is it, for now, folks, don't expect regular updates but I will post when I can.**

 **-hickoryrOadkill**


End file.
